Volunteers to clean up 6 Newport Beach sites Saturday

Thousands of volunteers will comb through trash and debris along Orange County beaches and other waterways Saturday in support of California Coastal Cleanup Day.

The goal of the effort, coordinated by Costa Mesa environmental group Orange County Coastkeeper and sponsored by the Metropolitan Water District, is for volunteers to collect trash on 91 miles of coastline to help prevent it from reaching the ocean, according to a news release.

Last year, 7,053 Orange County volunteers collected more than 67,000 pounds of trash and recyclable materials during the three-hour event.

Saturday’s cleanup will begin at 9 a.m.

Six of the 42 sites in Orange County are in Newport Beach. They are:

• Corona del Mar

• ExplorOcean on the Balboa Peninsula

• Balboa Pier

• Santa Ana River at 198 Summit St.

• Muth Interpretive Center, 2301 University Drive, for removal of trash and invasive plants along Upper Newport Bay

• Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve, for a water cleanup in the bay

To register as a volunteer or for more information, visit www.coastkeeper.org.